KWZ Honey

KWZ ink started with Konrad Zurawski’s interest in improving saturation in one of his ink. This passion has flourished and it has caught the stationery world’s attention with its extensive iron gall line. The premise of Konrad’s story and ink line reminded me of Organics Studio (I have reviewed its Foggy Bottom, an ink specially made for one of the D.C. Fountain Pen Show several years back).

Konrad’s chemistry background exudes in the packaging: the wide-mouth jar reminds me of specimen jars used in a laboratory. Wild association aside, the wide-mouth opening and the shape of the jar facilitate easy refill regardless of the barrel size. Of course, it is not without fault. For clumsy individuals like me, the wide opening is a tipping hazard.

KWZ Honey

The moment I unscrewed the cap, a waft of sweetness permeated through the air. Though the ink is not advertised as a scented one, it has a warm caramel fragrance. As Ana at Well-Appointed Desk has pointed out, the original formula of the ink has an astringent smell, while the improved formula has little scent. I have purchased mine from Vanness Pen Shop sometimes around Thanksgiving of last year so presumably, the ink I have is of newer formula.

At first, I assumed Honey would be a similar color to Pelikan Edelstein Amber, but it turns out that Honey is a warm rich umber with yellow undertone. It does not resemble clover honey (light golden color), but more like mānuka honey. Besides the warm and fuzzy feelings that the color evokes, KWZ Honey is a very smooth and lubricated ink; it works well with nibs of all width and can transform even the driest nibs into miracles.

A swab of honey

A taciturn understanding is that fountain pen ink is selective when it comes to paper so it is a miracle when the ink plays well with most paper. The ink takes the thinking out of the equation; thus makes the usage more natural and less intentional. Of course, it will be more helpful if fountain pen friendly paper assortment is more prevalent as well. Nostalgia aside, the collages below show how KWZ Honey reacted to a variety of paper.

In the writing sample paper (Maruman Report pad), Rhodia dotPad, and Tomoe paper, there is no feathering. Curiously, there is a slight feathering on Rhodia R. I suspect that it could be the coating or simply sebum from my hands. Honey behaves remarkably well on normal recycled printing paper, since fountain pen ink and recycle paper usually do not mix. Please note that all written samples are done by a Pilot Falcon with SF nib, a natural wet writer. Consider that I have put these paper samples under some stress testing 🙂

KWZ Honey performs equally well in bleedthrough. The most obvious bleedthrough is on Rhodia R; besides that, all other three paper shows none. Perhaps Rhodia R is more absorbent compared to the other three so the ink seeps through?

Price tag wise, KWZ Honey is quite approachable: 60ml for $15 USD that averages to .25 per ml. As a point of comparison, Pelikan Edelstein is roughly .55 per ml (calculated based on Goulet Pen’s offering). KWZ Honey can easily be a daily go-to ink without breaking the bank that works with most paper I have tested. The overall positive experience definitely provides incentives for me to try out more ink in the same line.